Spring 2017 | Ventures

Stevenson University remains a place whose core values are centered on respecting and welcoming every human being no matter their ethnicity, culture, race, gender, nationality, religion, or personal differences. To support these values, the University opened the new Center for Diversity and Inclusion on Feb. 7. Located in the Caves Sports and Wellness Center in what was formerly the Academic Link, the center will be used for student, faculty, and staff programming as it relates to topics of diversity and inclusion as well as club and organization meetings. In addition, the space will include a prayer and meditation room. Natalie Gillard, who joined Stevenson as the Assistant Vice President of Multicultural Experience in 2016, oversees the center.

“I want the Center for Diversity and Inclusion to serve as a platform for reflection, discussion, and insight into the lives and experiences of individuals belonging to—as articulated in our diversity statement—all backgrounds, defined by, but not limited to, ethnicity, culture, race, gender, class, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, physical ability, learning styles, and political perspectives,” says Gillard. “This space is for those who know they are diverse as well as those who believe they are not as it fosters what is most important: the intentional inclusion of all members of this community. This space is for the generation of new ideas and the dismantling of misconceptions.”

Mock trial teams from Stevenson University, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, North Carolina State, American University, Patrick Henry College, Haverford College, Princeton University, Seton Hall, and Washington and Lee University competed in the Charm City Classic Invitational Tournament Jan. 28-29. Co-hosted by the Stevenson’s Legal Studies department and UMBC, the two-day tournament was held in Stevenson’s Brown School of Business and Leadership, which includes the University’s state-of-the-art Francis X. Pugh Courtroom. Washington and Lee emerged as the winning squad. On Stevenson's team, Ruth George and Lindsay Somuah won outstanding witness awards, and Dorothy Hinson won an outstanding attorney award.

Officially sanctioned by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA), the tournament served as a fitting warmup for the group of teams, which will compete in a regional AMTA tournament at the University of Maryland School of Law next month. “This tournament, which brings together talented teams from across the northeast region, provides students with a wonderful opportunity to learn the importance of team camaraderie while improving their critical thinking and public speaking skills,” said Melanie Snyder, J.D., Professor of Law and Coach of the Stevenson team.

The Charm City Classic Invitational Tournament is made possible by the financial support of the Murthy Law Firm. Board of Trustees member Sheela Murthy handed out awards at the end of ceremonies.

Jim Condron, M.F.A., Adjunct Professor in Visual Communication Design, has been recognized in The Baltimore Sun and Art Daily for receiving a $30,000 grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. The foundation is named after the famous abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock and his wife, Lee Krasner, who was also a painter. Formed in 1985, the foundation was created to provide financial assistance to established artists.

“I’m extremely grateful to the foundation and legacy of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner,” says Condron, who has taught at Stevenson since 2008. “The grant provides me with needed time and space to expand on my work in every direction.”

Condron is one of many artists whose works are being featured in “SU20: Selections from the Stevenson University Permanent Art Collection,” a celebration of 20 years of art exhibitions on view through June 2 in the St. Paul Companies Pavilion. Learn more about the arts at Stevenson at facebook.com/StevensonGalleries.

Adjunct Professor in English Ariana Mashilker, Ph.D., wrote a chapter titled “Reclaiming the Fisherman: Soul Searching and the Subversive in Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales” in the recently published Quintessential Wilde: His Worldly Place, His Penetrating Philosophy, and His Influential Aestheticism. An Anglo-Irish literature and drama scholar, Mashilker was invited by the editor to collaborate on the commemorative text, which marked the 160th anniversary of Wilde’s birth.

“After many years writing and lecturing as a Joycean scholar, it was a new experience to publish on Oscar Wilde,” says Mashilker. “The uniqueness of this particular publication, in relation to my general research, might suggest [to students] the benefits and rewards of stepping beyond your comfort zone and trying your hand at something new and familiar. I always try to instill in my students a belief they can accomplish anything to which they set their mind—after all, the only thing holding us back is our own hesitation.”

Mashilker adds that she is honored to have her work shared among such a distinguished collection of Wildean scholars. She has been teaching at Stevenson University since 2014.

Stevenson University senior defensive back Austin Tennessee and football head coach Ed Hottle led a total of seven Mustangs who were honored on March 2 at the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., home of the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets.

Tennessee was honored by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers and American Football Networks as the Rocky Myers Division III Defensive Player of the Year. Hottle was recognized as the ECAC Division III South Coach of the Year. In addition, Tennessee, senior Billy Lewis, junior Dan Williams, senior Devonte Williams, junior Preston Addo, and sophomore Ashton Leschke were recognized as ECAC All-Stars.

Tennessee, named a consensus First Team All-American by D3football.com and the AFCA, was also selected as the D3football.com East Region Defensive Player of the Year and the Middle Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. In 2016, Hottle led the Mustangs to a 9-2 record and a final ranking of No. 20 in the D3football.com Top 25 in the team’s sixth season. Stevenson earned its first Middle Atlantic Conference title with an 8-1 conference record, the program’s first NCAA appearance, and Hottle was the MAC Coach of the Year.